doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com 03 Springfield SN question

At the end of August, I won a sporterized 1903 Springfield from a Greg Martin auction

http://www.gregmartinauctions.com/Auctions/AuctionLot.aspx?LotID=7998

My FFL dealer lives a good drive away, so I usually wait till a few rifles have accumulated at his place before picking them up.
I was pleased with this rifle, though not pleased with the $50 shipping fee charged by the auction company.

In looking at the rifle, this evening, I noticed that the serial number 1344306 was electropenciled on the bolt and that the barrel date was 2-30. I don't remember off the top of my head
why some serial numbers were electropenciled on the bolt and the signficance, if any of that. Could someone bring me up to speed on this?

Well No. 1344300,301,302,303,304,307,308,309 & 310 were NRA Sporters sold through the D.C.M. I suspect yours was sold to a service member. Is the forward top edge of the receiver rounded and the barrel star gauged?

Well, there is a very slight round to the front edge of the receiver, at least compared to other 03's of mine. And there are what look like marks at the 6 o'clock position on the muzzle. I've never personally seen a star-gauged barrel, so I don't feel comfortable in saying that it is or it isn't. I will post some pictures this evening.

Hard to tell, but from the pictures the receiver looks to be slightly rounded, and the barrel appears to be to heavy for an issue barrel. Either way, I'd say you did very well if you bought it for $219. No holes in the receiver ring, and the bolt has not been altered, and it does not appear to have been over polished to excessively as so many old sporters have. If it turns out to be a restocked NRA sporter, then you did very very well.

John

You are right gasgunner, the barrel is slightly heavier but is
marked with the usual markings, SA, flaming bomb and 2-30.
The $219 was the bid plus buyer's premium, then they charged $50 for shipping which I thought was high.

star gauge barrels were picked from production barrels that met the tight bore requirements from end to end out side dimentions were identical nothing special about a star gauge except close bore tolarences. They wer not produced as star gauge but picked from existing barrels.
Tom

NRA Sporters do have a heavier barrel contour than standard 03's.

my contribution is that the star gauge is an inspecion mark that designates the tolerances of the bore. I've had 2 03A4s that were not star gauge one was a 2 groove which was the best cast bullet shooting mil rifle i have ever owned.
Tom

The star marking is found at the six oclock position.

6 O'clock is were it's at and it looks more like an "asterisk" then a star.